Man sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse of young girl

CONWAY, SC (WMBF) – A 36-year-old man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday after a jury returned a guilty verdict for charges stemming from sexual abuse he perpetrated on a 9 to 10-year-old girl from 2010 to 2012.

The trial of Carlos Roberto Lopez began on Monday, April 14, and concluded with the jury's guilty verdict at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, court officials stated. Lopez was sentenced to 35 years in prison for one charge of first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and 15 years, to run concurrently, on one count of lewd act on a minor.

Lopez will not be eligible for parole until he has served roughly 30 years of his sentence, after which he will still be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and be monitored by a GPS tracking device at all times.

According to a news release from the 15th Judicial Circuit, Lopez was accused of sexually abusing a girl from 2010 through early 2012, while she was 9 and 10 years old. The child was in the care of her grandparents, and would visit the home of her mother and Lopez, who was the mother's boyfriend at the time. While the child's mother would go to work, Lopez would watch the child.

The sexual acts came to light when the girl began to refuse to go to her mother's home, and when she began to mimic sex acts with other children her own age. She disclosed to her grandmother that Lopez had sexually abused her while she was at her mother's home.

WMBF News Staff

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